Excerpt from A Love Episode From this it will be seen that the moral of the book if indeed a moral be required - is as sound as that of George Eliot's masterpiece, the pathos of which it more than once rivals. Still, it may be admitted that a writer of the romantic school would probably have left H elene desolate by the side of her darling's grave; and such a finish could not have been otherwise than impressive. But M. Zola is above all a realist, and he well knows that even the most bitter griefs are softened by the comforting hand of time. Thus Helene emerges from her woe, marries again, and secures a new lease of happiness in the society of a devoted husband. Doubtless it might have been more dramatic to have left her beneath the blow Of her bereavement; but to my thinking the denmtemeut planned by the novelist is far more in accordance with the probabilities of life. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.